First-Ever Offshore Wind Lease Sale in Pacific Ocean Set for December
WASHINGTON — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold its first-ever offshore wind energy lease sale on Dec. 6 for areas on the Outer Continental Shelf off central and northern California.
In addition to being the first-ever offshore wind lease sale on America’s West Coast, the sale is also the first to support potential commercial-scale floating offshore wind energy development.
BOEM will offer five California OCS lease areas that total approximately 373,268 acres with the potential to produce over 4.5 GW of offshore wind energy, power more than 1.5 million homes and support thousands of new jobs.
“The demand and momentum to build a clean energy future is undeniable,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a written statement.
“Today, we are taking another step toward unlocking the immense offshore wind energy potential off our nation’s West Coast to help combat the effects of climate change while lowering costs for American families and creating good-paying union jobs,” she said.
In May 2021, Haaland and California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined administration officials to announce an agreement to advance areas for offshore wind energy development by the northern and central coasts of California.
The California sale reflects the leasing path announced last year by Haaland and last month’s announcement of a new deployment goal of 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy by 2035.
The Final Sale Notice includes three lease areas off central California and two lease areas off northern California. It also includes several lease stipulations designed to promote the development of a robust domestic U.S. supply chain, advance flexibility in transmission planning and create good paying union jobs.
Among the stipulations, BOEM will offer bidding credits for bidders who enter into community benefit agreements or invest in workforce training or supply chain development; require winning bidders to make efforts to enter into project labor agreements; and require engagement with tribes, underserved communities, ocean users and agencies.
To date, BOEM has held 10 competitive lease sales and issued 27 active commercial wind leases in the Atlantic Ocean from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
The California Final Sale Notice, published in the Federal Register last week, provides detailed information about the final lease areas, lease provisions and conditions, and auction details. It also identifies qualified companies who can participate in the lease auction.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
